Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • NEWS FEATURE

Divided by DNA: The uneasy relationship between archaeology and ancient genomics

Two fields in the midst of a technological revolution are struggling to reconcile their views of the past.
  1. Ewen Callaway
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

The West Kennet long barrow served as a tomb and ceremonial site for more than a millennium. Credit: Robert Harvey/Natural World Photography

Thirty kilometres north of Stonehenge, through the rolling countryside of southwest England, stands a less-famous window into Neolithic Britain. Established around 3600 bc by early farming communities, the West Kennet long barrow is an earthen mound with five chambers, adorned with giant stone slabs. At first, it served as a tomb for some three dozen men, women and children. But people continued to visit for more than 1,000 years, filling the chambers with relics such as pottery and beads that have been interpreted as tributes to ancestors or gods.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 555, 573-576 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-03773-6

References

  1. Olalde, I. et al. Preprint at bioRxiv http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/135962 (2017).

  2. Olalde, I. et al. Nature 555, 190–196 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Rasmussen, M. et al. Nature 463, 757–762 (2010).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Pääbo, S. Nature 314, 644–645 (1985).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Frei, K. M. et al. Sci. Rep. 5, 10431 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Allentoft, M. E. et al. Nature 522, 167–172 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Haak, W. et al. Nature 522, 207–211 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Heyd, V. Antiquity 91, 348–359 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Horsburgh, K. A. J. Archaeol. Sci. 56, 141–145 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Green, R. E. et al. Science 328, 710–722 (2010).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Krause, J. et al. Nature 464, 894–897 (2010).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Bos, K. I. et al. Nature 478, 506–510 (2011).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Knipper, C. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 114, 10083–10088 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Amorim, C. E. G. et al. Preprint at bioRxiv http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/268250 (2018).

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

  • Postdoctoral Position

    We are seeking highly motivated and skilled candidates for postdoctoral fellow positions

    Boston, Massachusetts (US)

    Boston Children's Hospital (BCH)

  • Qiushi Chair Professor

    Distinguished scholars with notable achievements and extensive international influence.

    Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

    Zhejiang University

  • ZJU 100 Young Professor

    Promising young scholars who can independently establish and develop a research direction.

    Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

    Zhejiang University

  • Head of the Thrust of Robotics and Autonomous Systems

    Reporting to the Dean of Systems Hub, the Head of ROAS is an executive assuming overall responsibility for the academic, student, human resources...

    Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

    The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou)

  • Head of Biology, Bio-island

    Head of Biology to lead the discovery biology group.

    Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

    BeiGene Ltd.

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links